Look at this delicious, light and savoury dish! Zuke Noodles, zukes being short for Zucchini, or zoodles as some do call them, sliced into wider (but still rather thin) noodles, sauteed with fresh sliced and minced garlic, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, oregano and parsley, then topped with amazingly flavorful cherry tomatoes roasted with olive oil and oregano. Then topped again with a fresh flaky white fish baked in lemon juice, parsley and a bit of oregano. It is a savoury dish we must savor! Those are some words, kind of like Zuke and zucchini, that go hand and hand a bit.
Taking in every bite and savoring each moment!
The combination of flavors is incredible!
I am updating this post on a very summerlike fall day! I picked up these vegetables and made this meal in the middle of summer when it was around 80 degrees and sunny. Today, it’s in upper 80s, humid and we have a threat of thunderstorms later. The leaves are changing but I’d call the change more of a burn rather than a gradual beautiful display of orange and red. Brown is the predominant color across the mountain tops. Anyways I am always grateful for today and the beauty all around!
Let’s begin with our zukes!
During the summer right into fall the farmer’s market is open and bustling, along with local vegetable stands. The produce changes obviously as the season moves along, but I love this dish because the ingredients are simple, while the savouriness of it is full!
Vegetables, herbs and fish, right there all available in one stop!
Staring with the cherry tomatoes, rinse then place into a bowl, pouring a bit of olive oil over them then sprinkling a bit generously with oregano.
Spread around on a baking sheet and roast at 405F for about 30 minutes or until the inside is squeezing out the skin and the skin is visibly cooked.
While the tomatoes are roasting, grab your zuke! Along with a vegetable peeler and a pizza cutter! You’ll also need fresh lemon, fresh garlic, more olive oil and fresh parsley.
After using the peeler as much as you can, if you need to, a pizza cutter works wonderfully with the already sliced wide but thin zoodles to get them just a bit more perfect in size.
Place in the same bowl you mixed the tomatoes in, allowing to coat a bit with the olive oil left over and oregano. Here add a touch more oregano and then squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the zoodles to coat.
In a pan, add sliced fresh garlic and a touch of olive oil.
Warm the olive oil and garlic for about two to three minutes over medium heat, then add the zoodles.
Add about two to three cloves of fresh minced garlic here to really give it a garlic and lemon herb flavor!
Sautee for about 10-15 minutes over a medium heat.
Final step, baking the flaky white fish! Cod, Haddock, Polluck, Branzino, any great white fish will do! Similar flavors, oregano, parsley, fresh lemon squeezed, place fish in foil, add the herbs and lemon juice and then cover with another sheet of foil. You can add a thin slice of butter on top of each fish if you like, just want to have it be a great pure butter, pasture raised like kerrygold, and not too much.
In the oven or over the grill!
Fish is ready, check! Zoodles or Zuke Noodles are ready, check! Tomatoes are ready, check! Place Zuke noodles, then tomatoes then fish on yours and your friends’, family members’ plate to make it all so pretty and take in the moment!
Enjoy the day, the warmth, the sun, the unpredictability of mother nature and savor the moment with this incredibly savoury dish! Mindfulness by being so Nutritiously Well-Fed! Amazingly good for Your Whole Well-Being!
